Joe Hardy was cold. That was the first sensation that he felt. He opened his eyes slowly, but closed them again when the room began to spin around him. He tried to sit up and then realized that his legs had some sort of chains around them.

Opening his eyes again Joe looked down at his ankles. The re were heavy manacles around them and these were attached by long chains to the wall. He pushed himself up so that he was hal f lying- hal f sitting against the damp cement wall. He soon lay back down again though as an excruciating pain shot through his back and legs.

‘Oh boy, I don’t think I’m in Kansas anymore’ thought Joe to himself. ‘Big brother is not going to be impressed when he gets back to the kitchen.’

Joe looked down at his body, He was wearing his jeans but no top and his chest, and he guessed his back were a bloody pulp. He tried to examine the various cuts and nicks, although they were messy and bleeding quite a lot but none were very deep. ‘It’s as if someone is trying to make me look more beat-up than I actually am’.

He knew that he had lost quite a lot of blood however and that he was open to infection. He also knew that if he didn’t figure a way out soon he wouldn’t survive longer than a couple of days, especially if he didn’t get any water.

He was in quite a lot of pain however, and was starting to feel really hot now, which made him think that he was running a temperature.

The worst part was that he couldn’t find any position to either lay or sit that was anyway comfortable. Deciding that leaning with just the top of his back against the wall was the least painful he did just that. Joe tried to remember what had happened and as he suddenly got a flashback he could feel his stomach turning and he was violently sick in the corner of the room.

He had just said goodbye to Ness , promising that he would fly out to see her for her birthday the following week. She had seemed distant on the phone, as if she had something on her mind but repeated attempts by Joe to extract information from her had failed. Joe was sitting looking at the phone and thinking about the conversation they had just had when he heard the back door opening.

“Hey Frank, that was a short walk, listen I need to talk to you about Va..” but never got to finish the word. Two men had entered the kitchen. The smaller man punched Joe hard in the stomach. Joe doubled over in pain. The man then karate chopped the back of his neck and Joe fell to the ground, gasping. He was attempting to stand when a tall thin, middle aged man with graying hair stepped in front of him.

‘Joey, long time no see’

Joe recognized the voice at once and his heart sank, however he tried not to show his fear.

‘Arnold Frazer, id like to say it’s a pleasure, but it isn’t.’ Joe was rewarded with a kick to the stomach.

Frazer bent down over him and Joe felt saw the blade of a knife flash before his eyes.

“Now Joe Hardy, you and I are going for a drive, but we need to leave a sign for Frankie before we leave. He and I have some unfinished business.” He needs to know that I am serious”

The n there had been pain, intense pain, the knife had a jagged edge, so that it didn’t just cut Joe but it dragged his skin apart. He tried not to scream but as Arnold Frazer continued to cut his chest, his back and his arms he couldn’t help but yell out in pain.

When Frazer had finished He bundled Joe into the back of the van and as they drove through the city streets he outlined his plans to Joe, enjoying the look of fear in the younger Hardy’s eyes.

The n Frazer called the house and asked to speak to Frank, Frank sounded so worried on the phone, and Joe tried to tell him about Vanessa, that they planned on taking her too, but he didn’t know if Frank heard him before Frazer disconnected the call.

‘And now here I am’, thought Joe, ‘I should be out protecting Vanessa; I shouldn’t have let myself be taken in the first place. Oh god, what am I going to do. If he hurts her’ Joe could feel tears welling up in his eyes and he fought to remain calm.

‘Big bro, I’m sorry’ He knew that Frazer was trying to get back at Frank and had taken Joe solely for this purpose. He also knew that Frank would make himself ill worrying about his brother.

He always fretted if the least thing happened to Joe, and Joe Hardy’s impulsive nature meant that accidents befell him on a regular basis.

He thought back to Evan Frazer, Arnold Frazer’s son. Evan had been possibly one of the nastiest villains the boys had ever come in contact with. Many of his victims had left to bleed to death. Frazer had taken Callie and the brothers were lucky to get her back alive, then Evan had attacked Frank in a frenzy of rage, he turned a gun on Frank, but luckily the older Hardy managed to distract him, and there was a struggle for the gun. Frank ended up shooting Frazer, in order to avoid being killed himself. 

The case had been hard on both brothers, but Frank especially had taken him a long time to recover, both physically and emotionally.

Callie hadn’t been badly hurt but was much shaken and for a time was scared to be left on her own. Frank blamed himself for letting Evan Frazer get his hands on her.

Frank had never killed a person in his life before, and although it was partially an accident he still had nightmares about if for months afterwards.

Joe had eventually rung the boy’s father and explained what had happened. Fenton Hardy as a cop and as a detective had killed people in the line of duty. He flew out the next day and had talked for a long time with Frank. This had helped a lot and eventually the boys put the case behind them.

‘And now Daddy Frazer wants revenge’ Joe said out loud.

Just then the door of the room opened and a figure was shoved into a corner. Manacles were put around the person’s ankles and then the door closed again.

Joe gasped as he recognized the figure as none other than Vanessa Bender!

 

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.