"Have you found anything?" Frank asked his father.

"Yes, I have found two different sets of tire tracks, one seems to suggest a car, and the other seems to suggest a van or something bigger than a car," Fenton replied.

Frank knelt down by the tracks, "Yes, looks like the same tread we have on the van," Frank observed.

"Okay, since it looks fairly new, maybe we can ask around to local tire stores to see if we can find out the description of the vehicle, it’s probably been stolen," Fenton said.

Frank nodded, they had since heard from the police, that the van they used had been stolen from another part of the state, where another high school football player was reported missing, the police there were still looking and all evidence was pointing towards the Draven’s as suspects in that case, as he was also a blond, he shuddered when he thought that they could be doing to Joe at this moment.

"Are you okay, Frank?" his father asked.

Frank looked up at his father, "Fine, just worried and a little mad," he admitted.

"We’ll find him, I won’t let them do to Joe, what they did to all those other boys," Fenton said, with determination evident in his voice.

"But, they may be already doing it, I read that file, about what they put them through before they killed their victims, Joe isn’t going to stay still for that, you know that," Frank said.

"No, he won’t, I just hope he can survive what they plan to do with him, their last victim, that I know of was in horrible shape when his body was found," Fenton commented.

Frank nodded, he read how the Dravens would torture their victims, and each time Joe struggled to get free, or resisted, that could potentially make it worse for him. When they decided to follow in their father’s footsteps, they were prepared for the risks to their lives and safety. But Frank wasn’t prepared for someone to hurt his brother because he matched the description of someone who hurt them so much. Frank looked over to his father, and he could tell that he was thinking the same thing.

* * * * *

As Joe lay on the table he was strapped to, he was wondering what was in store for him, he couldn’t see what was going on, and he heard no noises, he had long arrived at whatever destination and was wheeled, he guessed into a building in a room by himself, he knew for a fact that he was some distance from the barn, as estimated that they had traveled about 30 minutes. When they put him in the room, they left, promising to be back, he wished he could speak to his family, he knew they were worried about him because deep down he could feel his sister was worried, he knew that Frank, his father, his mother, and his aunt would be worried sick, he was worried, what he hates was the not knowing with people like this. He felt sympathy for them, because they lost their mother, as he loved his mom very much, but to blame countless people, this was carrying their grief too far.

Just then, he heard the door opening, he turned his head towards the sound, wishing he could see, but to his dismay, when a voice spoke, they made no attempts to remove his blindfold. "Do you want to talk to your family?" Alexa asked Joe.

"Just so you can torment them?" Joe replied. That earned him a smack on his face.

"Who said I was going to give you a say in the matter?" Alexa said. Again Joe heard the door opening and closing. "Did you bring the phone?"

"Yeah. Right here," Alex said, handing it over to his sister.

Alexa punched up the number, it rang a couple of times, and then she heard a frazzled voice on the other end. "Hello?" Fenton said as he answered his office phone.

"Fenton Hardy?" Alexa asked, she had never heard her enemies voice before.

"This is he, who are you?" Fenton asked.

"I suspect you know who I am, but to give you a clue, do you happen to have a son with blond hair?" Alexa asked.

"What have you done with him?" Fenton demanded. Frank looked up from his dad’s computer when he said that, he knew without a doubt that Joe’s kidnappers were on the phone.

"Nothing yet, would you like to talk to him?" Alexa asked. Waiting for no reply, she put the phone to Joe’s ear. "Speak to your Father!" she ordered him.

"Dad?" Joe asked.

"Joe? Are you all right?" Fenton asked, Joe sounded okay, but in his present state, he wondered how long that would last.

"I’m fine," Joe replied.

"Do you know where you are?" Fenton asked.

"No, they blindfolded me," Joe replied.

"Hold on, we’re going to find you, I promise, I;m not going to let them hurt you," Fenton told his son.

"I know," Joe replied, with that Alexa took away the phone and turned it off.

Frank saw the look on his father’s face, "What’s wrong? What did Joe say?"

"Dad?" Frank asked again.

"He said he was fine," Fenton finally answered.

"But, something is wrong, you acted like you were surprised to get that call," Frank said.

"I was, the Draven’s never called the victims families," Fenton replied.

"What do you think that means?" Frank asked.

"I don’t know," was Fenton’s reply. "But the only thing I can think of is this is more than a simple case."

Frank nodded, he continued looking at the screen, he was looking at a map program on his dad’s computer, and some of the files to find a clue as to where they might be hiding Joe, so they could plan their next move.

"Find anything?" Fenton asked, looking over.

"There doesn’t seem to be a pattern, how did you solve the case the first time?" Frank asked.

"It wasn’t easy, like you said, they didn’t have a pattern, the only thing that tied the cases together was the way the victims were tortured and died," Fenton replied, he had to stop a moment, he knew he had to keep his mind clear to find his son, and not let his emotions cloud his judgment he looked over at Frank, and knew he was doing his best to do the same thing.

"We solved it, mainly because, there were slip-ups, people witnessing the kidnappings, Thomas Draven’s last victim did survive, but he ended killing himself, several years later, because he was paralyzed because of his injuries he sustained," Fenton explained.

Frank nodded, his own emotions were in an uproar as it is, but he had to stay calm and focused for his brother’s sake, losing control wouldn’t find his brother, and at times it was hard, because of what they could be doing to him.

Frank jumped when the phone rang again.

"Hello?" Fenton answered before it finished the first ring.

"Fenton, this is Sam, we’ve tracked down the type of van they used the second time," Sam announced.

"What type was it?" Fenton asked.

"It was a white Chevy Astro cargo van, it was reported stolen a month ago, it looks like they had been planning this for some time," Sam replied.

"I figured that, that was the first time Frank and Joe were not together, they had been busy a lor with cases, and school just starting up, the last few months," Fenton commented.

"So you’re saying that the other night was the first opportunity they had to take Joe?" Sam asked.

"Yes, they always like to spend time together, and I like to make sure the other backs the other up when they’re on a case," Fenton replied.

"Don’t worry, now that we know what vehicle they are currently in, it might be easier to find them before they can do anything," Sam tried to comfort his old friend.

"Sam, have Con dig up reports on other stolen vehicles, I suspect that they constantly switch vehicles, they’ll probably steal a pickup truck soon, if they haven’t already," Fenton suggested.

"Will do," Sam replied as he hung up the phone.

"What did Sam say?" Frank inquired.

"The van was a Chevy Astro cargo van at the barn, it uses the same type of tires that you and Joe have on the van, Sam said it was stolen a month ago," Fenton replied.

"You mean they have been planning on kidnapping Joe for that long?" Frank asked. Fenton only nodded.

"You asked him to search for a pickup truck, because that is the type of vehicle they use, right?" Frank asked.

"Yes," Fenton replied. "That is the vehicle that was used that killed their Mother. They use it to kill their victims after they are done with them. A profile was drawn up on the case, and the profiler even suspected more than one person was involved, but we could only pin it on the Father, until the killings started again, but the profiler said they they wanted their intended victim to feel as much pain as they had felt when she was killed, but I am beginning to think, they might switch gears here."

"Why?" Frank asked, not that he doubted his father, he was beginning to feel the same way.

"Because, I am thinking they are out for revenge, I don’t think they will strictly follow their pattern, they didn’t call the victim’s families, and I don’t think they will completely stick to their pattern," Fenton paused to collect his thoughts. "They’ll be more after me, than they would target Joe, it is a coincedence he fits their intended targets, but I don’t think it revolves totally around their Mother’s death, as much as it revolves around their Father’s.

Frank shuddered at the thought of what they were doing to his brother, he prayer a silent prayer to give his brother the strength to get through this, he knew his brother was tough, but he read that the others boys were tough as well, how was Joe going to hold up under the pressure? Sure he and Frank had faced tough situations before, but they usually faced them together, what would it do to Joe, knowing he was facing it alone.

Frank looked over at his father, he knew he was thinking the same thing, Frank turned back to the computer, he was determined to find out where they were hiding his brother, Con had sent over lists and addresses of houses and buildings that were currently abandoned where they could be hiding him.

Fenton, as well was pouring over the files as well, trying to come up with some minute connection he hadn’t thought of before, his son’s life depended on finding anything that could give him a clue as to where, then he thought of something, "Frank, I am going to call the Chief, I think I thought of something."

"What?" Frank inquired.

"What is there is a connection to their location and the vehicles they have stolen, Con called me earlier, and they found blond hairs that match your brother’s in a stolen Mercury Sable, they had found earlier, maybe we can find a connection between where they steal the vehicles and where they dump them," Fenton explained.

"Why didn’t I think of that," Frank exclaimed. "So, you’re saying that we could possible triangulate where they’re hiding, and the vehicles they steal?"

"Yes, but first we need to get something to ear, I’ll call while you fix us some soup," Fenton replied.

"Okay," Frank said. "I’m not really all that hungry though, but soup sounds like a good idea, do you want vegetable or chicken noodle?"