Frank rounded a corner by a small palm tree and he saw two figures in the faint light from the restaurant. At that point, Adam was fending off his assailant while his back was plastered to the sandy ground. The attacker was trying to shove a piece of cloth over his face, but Adam had kept the foul smelling rag at bay. Frank sprang forward into a tackle, knocking the attacker off of the youngest Kramer. Adam, who had got a little bit of a whiff of the cloth, got up slowly and turned in the direction of Frank. By this time, Frank was getting the upper hand on the assailant and almost had him pinned to the ground. Just as Adam got up to help Frank, he felt a force from behind that felt like a freight train running him over. Unable to catch himself, Adam fell into Frank Hardy from behind with a thud and landed on Frank’s back.

"Ugh!" Frank cried out as he fell face forward and landed beside the attacker. Seeing his chance, the unknown man quickly rebounded and took off into the shadows.

"What was that!" Adam muttered out, pinned on top of Frank’s back by another body that still lay tangled up in his legs.

"What on Earth!" a voice yelled from a shadow that stood above the whole mess. Adam recognized the voice immediately.

"It is us Jason… well me," Adam mumbled trying to get up slowly. The breath had literally been knocked out of his lungs.

"Adam? Jason?" a voice behind Adam peeped up. Then the face of Joe Hardy became known in the faint light.

"My Good Lord Joe, did you have to plow us down like that!" Adam quipped in between breaths.

"Sorry! I just saw Frank and a shadow behind him and under him. I was afraid you might be getting ready to smack him on the head," Joe answered sheepishly. ‘By the way, is that you up there Frank?"

"Yeah," Frank said as he was spitting sand out of his mouth. "Nothing like getting sand in the mouth!"

"Are you all right?" Joe called out.

"I will be as soon as Adam here gets off of me!" Frank called back, referring to Adam’s position on his back.

"Sorry Frank, but I can’t move until Joe here gets off my legs!" Adam chimed in. With that, Joe got up and the rest of the boys were able to untangle themselves from each other. Jason just stood there watching the boys slowly move and get their bearings.

"Hey guys! Are you out there? It isn’t fun to take off without me you know," another voice called out from back near the restaurant.

"Chuck, get down here!" Jason called out. Chuck was soon at his side. By then, the rest of the boys had made it to their feet and were comparing notes on what happened.

"I was just walking back to get Alyssa’s wheelchair when WHAM! That guy jumped out from no where!" Adam recalled. Then there was a long pause. "ALYSSA!" Before anyone could argue, Adam took off blindly in the direction of where he had left Alyssa on the beach.

"I will go with him," Joe said, taking off behind the younger Kramer. Jason and Frank just looked at each other and then started to walk towards the beach along with Chuck.

When the group of three arrived with the rest of the group, they found Alyssa hugging Adam while Joe looked back towards the restaurant.

"Thank God you are all right! All I could hear was you yelling for help and I couldn’t do anything!" Alyssa cried, burying her face into Adam’s arms.

"It’s fine Alyssa. It was just a robber who was trying to get my wallet," Adam comforted her.

"I don’t know about that Adam," Frank commented. "Usually when you put up a fight, a pick pocket takes off. They like the easy jobs."

"Frank is right. Plus Frank said he could swear that he smelt chloroform," Jason chimed in.

Adam just glared back at his brother. "I think you guys are trying to make something out of nothing."

A sigh could be heard among the group.

"I would just think that if he was trying to kidnap me or someone else, then I would think that he would have a gun or a knife or something," Adam remarked. "Plus he would not have been alone."

"How do you know he was alone?" Joe asked.

"I didn’t see anyone else jumping out to help him?" Adam quipped back. He didn’t want them worrying Alyssa and making a big situation out of nothing. "It was a simple attempted mugging, but I only have about five dollars on me any ways."

Frank never said anything, but did glance over at Joe and Jason. He could not help but think that this was not a simple attempted robbery. It just didn’t feel right. Now I am being like Joe, going on my instincts! Then there was the issue of the chloroform. Why would a pickpocket have that?

Jason was thinking the very same thing that Frank was, but decided not to say anything at that point and time.

"Fine, let’s just get back to the cars before anything else happens," Jason said, realizing that arguing with Adam was not going to be the best thing to do. Maybe they were making more out of it than they should. It was not unusual for people to hang out at the beach and try to rob people for money to eat or buy drugs with at that time of the night. He also realized that Adam did not want to worry Alyssa even more over the matter. But he could not shake the bad feeling that engulfed his stomach. He looked over at the Hardys. It was apparent that they were not happy with dismissing the event either.

Meanwhile, Adam was ignoring all the looks that were being passed in the dim light. He was too busy consoling Alyssa and getting her in position to be carried back to her wheelchair. The rest of the group followed in behind him.

When they reached the cars, it was decided that Jason and Frank would take Chuck home in the van while Adam and Joe would take Alyssa home in the Trans Am. They would meet at the Kramer house since it was getting late.

After dropping off Chuck, Jason and Frank enjoyed a conversation about computers. Frank wanted to discuss the night’s event, but he was not sure how to approach the topic with Jason. Then he thought of a way to ease into it.

"So does Adam tinker with computers?" Frank asked, enjoying the leisurely country ride. The moonlight lit up the fields and countryside.

"Adam? Computers? Oh no! He hates them," Jason said with a laugh. It was true. Adam and computers got along as well as cats and mice. Another problem that recently came into play was Adam’s motor skills. It was very difficult for Adam to work with the keyboard in a productive manner. Dealing with the keyboard on the computer was enough to keep Adam off of one as much as possible. As a matter of fact, Jason often typed Adam’s papers because it was easier to just do it versus listening to him gripe, moan and groan. Jason didn’t mind, but he knew that Adam would eventually have to deal with his dislike and disability when it came to using computers.

Frank laughed at Jason’s answer. "Joe is like that too. The only good a computer is good for in his opinion besides detective work is playing games."

"Adam will not even play computer games. He has never really been interested in any type of game system," Jason said thinking back. "He was more content playing outside and playing sports."

Frank chuckled. "It is so weird just how much we are all alike, you know."

Jason smiled and nodded. "You know, it is scary, but it is also kind of nice."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because now someone else knows just how much of a pain our type of little brothers can cause."

Both boys laughed together.

"You can’t live with them and you can’t live without them. God has a real sense of humor there," Frank commented.

"I do want to thank you though," Jason finally said as he adjusted the vent to a cooler setting.

"For what?"

"For helping out Adam tonight," Jason replied.

"Nothing I am sure you would not have done if it was Joe."

"True, but I wanted to just say thanks."

Frank smiled and looked out the window. Okay, this is it! I think this is my open door to look into this incident because I can not accept that it was a simple pickpocket.

"I do have a question for you Jason, if you don’t mind," Frank spoke up.

"I think I have an idea of what it is," Jason answered. "It is probably the same thing that has been bothering me all night since it happened."

"Do you honestly think that was a random attack? I know that you have done some investigating and so has your father. Is there anyone you could think of that would be after you guys for some reason?" Frank asked.

Jason sighed and ran his hand through his brown hair and rested it on the door of the van. "While I don’t know for sure if it was a planned attack or not, it would be hard to pin point who would be after us. Dad has dealt with so many criminals over the years as well as Adam and me. I just would not be able to pin point who and why. But I don’t like how this guy had chloroform. That is not normal."

"That part bothers me too. If it were just a simple robbery, then the attacker would not have chloroform. He would have grabbed the wallet and ran. But this guy did not seem to have that in mind. However, if he was a kidnapper or something, why would he act alone out in a public area?"

"He could either be incredibly stupid or…" Jason answered.

"Just a desperate stupid thief that needed money for drugs or something," Frank said as he completed Jason’s sentence. "So what are we going to do about it?"

"Well, I really don’t know. If it were a simple foiled robbery, then I would not want to worry my parents over it since all of us are okay. But if there is something more to it, then our fathers should be the first to be told. But I do know this, I think we should talk to Adam first to find out exactly what happened or what he can remember of it," Jason remarked. Oh, God! I hope I didn’t say too much. I am just so used to just saying it out loud. But I don’t know how much of the attack Adam will remember. His short-term memory gives him problems. I can’t believe that I let that out though. Hopefully Frank will not pick up on it. Adam would kill me if they found out about his disabilities. I don’t know why, but I have to respect his wishes on that for now. Frank and Joe would never think any less of him for it, but stubborn Adam won’t listen.

"Sounds like a plan to me, Jason," Frank said. He did noticed Jason’s odd behavior after his last statement.

Jason noticed the silence and felt that he had better say something. "We will talk to Adam as soon as we get to the house and decide what to do from there. More than likely, I think that we should talk with our fathers in the morning before they leave for the convention. We can see if they have any old enemies that would be out of jail or something."

"But Adam thinks it is a simple robbery."

"I don’t believe that. I think that he knows that there is something not right. He just didn’t want to worry Alyssa or anyone else for that matter. He is stubborn in that way," Jason commented.

Frank chuckled again. "They are so much alike it is scary! Joe is one of the most impulsive and stubborn people I know."

"Thank goodness our parents had us level headed and sensible ones first to pave the way," Jason laughed, thinking of Adam’s own impulsiveness.

"If they would have had our younger brothers first, I would have to wonder if we would have even been born!" Frank quipped.

"They would have had to have had us then Frank. I mean who would bail them out when they needed it!"

"The role of the big brother is never appreciated."

"You got that right, Frank. What a job to have! No pay and little appreciation except for a grin here and there and maybe, just maybe, a lunch out of their own money once in a blue moon."

"With the way Joe eats! Not a chance there. I always have to buy or lend him some. The bottomless pit!" Frank fired back. His brother Joe had an endless appetite, even though his waistline did not show it at all.

"Adam uses his for car parts," Jason replied as he rolled his eyes. Adam was not an eater, but when it came to car parts for his beloved Trans Am, he would go weak in the knees.

"Goes back to that old saying my fellow Batman. You can’t live with them and you can’t live without them," Frank said, referring to the name Joe often called him. "Every Batman needs a Robin. We are stuck for life."