"Come on, get out of the way." The normally cool and collected Frank Hardy shouted out the window at the car in front of him. The freeway was bumper to bumper and Frank could feel the panic starting to well up inside of him.

"Take it easy Frank," Callie’s calm voice soothed Frank’s nerves a little. In the back of the black SUV Chet, Tony and Biff looked at each other worriedly. Tony "Frank will you for pete’s sake tell us what’s happening" Tony burst out.

At the mention of Frazer’s name the others gasped and Callie turned white. They all remembered that case and the aftermath of it only too well. Then Frank told them about Joe shouting out Vanessa’s name. "I think Frazer plans to take her as well, so we have to get to her and Phil before they do" finished Frank.

"The thing I don’t understand" continued Frank, as he banged his hand on the steering wheel in frustration, "is how Vanessa comes into this. Frazer took Joe to get back at me, so why take Joe’s girlfriend as well" No one knew how to answer this but they silently prayed that they would get to the airport in time.

Presently Frank’s cell phone began to ring, he pulled over to the hard shoulder and answered "Hey Dad" The boys and Callie could here the deep, even tones of Fenton Hardys voice. Frank explained the situation quickly and after a few instructions from his father resumed the journey to the airport.

"Dad’s here" explained Frank to the others "He hired a private jet. At the moment he is going through all the files on Frazer, trying to get a clue as to his whereabouts, he’ll give us a call if he finds something"

Five minutes later the SUV pulled up outside the airport. Callie promised to watch the car as the boys took off in the direction of the arrivals lounge. They could see that Phil and Vanessa’s flight had just landed.

Noting the gate number the three boys jogged as quickly as they could through the crowds at the airport and towards where the flight was coming in. They soon saw the small wiry figure of Phil Cohen walking towards them, looking grim.

"Where's Vanessa" Frank almost grabbed Phil and shook him in his distress. "She missed the flight, I got a call from her to say she would take the next flight, they are only a half hour apart, she should be here any time now" Phil looked puzzled. "Why, has something else happened, Van is so worried about Joe"

"I hope not" Frank replied although he had a sinking feeling that Vanessa Bender wasn’t on the next flight, and that Frazer had gotten to her before they had. He only hoped that she was still alive.

***

"Vanessa!" Joe Hardy wanted to rush over and take her in his arms but he couldn’t. "Vanessa, baby, are you alright?"

Vanessa Bender screamed as she caught sight of her boyfriends back, chest and arms. "Oh Joe, what did they do to you"

"I’ll be ok Ness, it looks worse that it is, did he hurt you? I’m sorry you got mixed up in this, I’m sorry babe" Again Joe Hardy could feel the tears welling up again. He stopped them from spilling over tough, he had to stay strong for Vanessa’s sake. He moved as close to her as he could and she did the same. They could just about reach the tips of each others fingers if they both lay outstretched.

Even this brought some comfort to the terrified and disorientated Vanessa. Joe wanted more than anything to hold Vanessa in his arms, to tell her everything would be ok. He could sense her fear and started to talk in a low and soothing voice.

"Its gonna be ok Ness, I’ll figure some way to get is out of here and even if I can’t then Frank and Dad are already looking for us, and Tony, Biff, Chet, Callie and Phil too I bet. We will be ok Van"

Vanessa looked up at her boyfriend through tear filled eyes. "I just have a bad feeling Joe, I think something’s going to go wrong"

"How did they get you" Joe thought that getting Vanessa to talk might calm her a little.

"I was in the airport, waiting for Phil to arrive and some guy came up behind me and put a gun to my neck. He made me walk out of the airport and into a waiting van. Then he made me ring Phil and say I had gotten delayed. I think he chloroformed me or something after that because I remember nothing more until we arrived here" She started to cry.

‘When I get my hand on that son of a..’ Joe thought angrily. He looked at his beautiful girlfriend as she sat there crying and vowed that no-one would ever hurt her again if he could help it.

"Joe". Vanessa had stopped crying and was sitting up looking at him with an expression on her face that Joe couldn’t quite understand.

"What is it Ness"