Tim, Hamby, and Stevens arrived at the road leading to the cabin and parked their vehicle in the brush near Ferguson's car.  Hamby pulled the tarp from the back and pulled Frank to the edge of the pick-up bed.  He untied Frank’s ankles and hauled him to his feet.  

After a brisk walk the quartet arrived at the cabin.  Hamby knocked on the door and Jennings opened it and let the group inside.  Frank was shoved roughly down beside the bound figure of his father.   

“You honestly thought you could fool us?” Jennings demanded of Fenton, ripping the fake mustache from his upper lip.   

“No,” Fenton answered.  “I knew I wouldn’t.  That’s why I got the job there.”  

“And only pretended to do what you were supposed to do,” Ferguson put in snidely.  “But I was wise to you all along.  I knew you wouldn’t do it.”  

“And you were right,” Jennings admitted.  He shook his head at Fenton.  “It’s too bad,” he said.  “I honestly thought you cared more for your family than that.  But now, I think it is time to carry out my threat, don’t you?”  Fenton paled.  “Tell me, Fenton,” Jennings continued.  “Are you ready to watch young Joseph die?”  

“Leave my sons out of this,” Fenton snarled.  

Laughing, Jennings motioned for his men to bring the two Hardys and led the way down to the cellar.  “Where...where is he?” Jennings screamed, rounding on Hamby and Stevens.  

“He was here when we left,” Hamby asserted.   

“Of course he was,” Jennings replied sarcastically.  “Just like you locked the door behind you.”  

“We did,” Hamby insisted.  

“Then where is he?” Jennings demanded angrily.  “He couldn’t have gotten away on his own.”  

“He must have,” Stevens said.  “Look,” he added, pointing to the ropes lying in the floor.  “They aren’t even cut.  He must have escaped.”  

“No matter,” Jennings said. “If you two did your job he’ll be lying dead outside somewhere.  Any movement would only increase the damage.”  

“We did it just the way you said,” Hamby promised.  “Lots of water and lots of pain.”  

“Bastards!” snarled Fenton trying to struggle free.  

“Kill the boy,” Jennings ordered, staring Fenton in the eyes.  “Hardy can watch his eldest die and then we will locate Joe’s body.”  

“Stop right there!” ordered a voice easily recognized by the Hardys.  

Everyone froze as the speaker and three other men emerged from behind shelves in the cellar.  Each man wore a suit and held a weapon.  

“Joe?” rasped Fenton in relief.  “You found him here?”  

“No,” Blaine answered as his men hurried forward and ushered them upstairs were more agents and Chief Collig and part of the Bayport police force were waiting.  

“We have to find him,” Frank declared as Blaine released him from his bonds.  “He could be dying.”  

“Is Joe okay?” Collig demanded, coming down the steps into the cellar.  He had followed Frank and his captors and met up with the CIA agents outside the cabin.  

“He’s not here,” Fenton growled in frustration.  

“I’ll start a search of the woods,” Collig said, turning around.  

“Not necessary,” Blaine interrupted him.  

“Why?” Frank demanded.  

“He did escape,” Blaine announced.  “But he collapsed on the main road.  I took him to Bayport General where he is currently undergoing surgery.  Your wife is there with Agent Billings.”  

“Why didn’t you say so before?” Frank demanded.  

Blaine raised an eyebrow at the youth.  “If you and your father had done as requested then you would have known about him hours ago,” Blaine stated.  Fenton blushed because it was the same lecture he had given his sons countless times.  

“I’ll give you a lift to the hospital,” Collig offered.  

“Thanks Ezra,” Fenton said.  On the drive over, Fenton remained silent and thoughtful.  He couldn’t help feeling that Joe’s current life and death situation was all his fault.  

“What’s wrong?” Frank asked, touching his father’s shoulder and drawing his attention back from the darkness where it had been.  

“If I had given Joe the advance then none of this would have happened,” Fenton said.  “It was only a few dollars.”  

“Not necessarily,” Frank said.  He told his dad what he had learned about  Joe being set up in the mall.  

“But he wouldn’t have been looking in the first place if I had just given him the money,” Fenton pointed out.  

“Dad, you can’t give us everything,” Frank said.  “Joe didn’t really expect you to give him the money anyway,” he continued.  “He just did it because it’s something a kid has to do.  It’s almost a rite of passage to ask your folks for advances until they say no.”  

Fenton gave his son a wan smile.  He knew Frank was trying to make him feel better but he couldn’t shake the feeling he had caused the predicament Joe had gotten into.  They arrived at the hospital and met Laura and Agent Billings in the waiting room.  

“Any word yet?” Frank asked.  

“No,” Laura answered giving her son a hug after she recognized his voice and then leaning back and looking at him critically.  

“I’ll change as soon as I can,” Frank promised, knowing his mother strongly disapproved of his disguise.  

Agent Billings left the family alone after receiving a call from his superior and the Hardys settled in to await word on Joe’s condition.  It was two more hours before a door opened and Dr. Bainbridge exited.  

“Doctor?” Fenton demanded, leaping to his feet and hurrying over to meet the man.  

“Joe will be fine,” Dr. Bainbridge assured the worried family.  “There was a lot of internal bleeding but we managed to clean him up and removed his appendicitis that had ruptured.  He will be very sore for a while and we are going to keep him for at least forty-eight hours but I foresee no problems baring an infection.”  

“An infection?” Laura asked fearfully.  

“It is a possibility,” the doctor said.  “But I have him on antibiotics so it shouldn’t become a problem.”  

“Can we see him now?” asked Frank.  

“You may,” the doctor answered.  “”Nurse Davis will tell you where he has been taken.”  

Nurse Davis sent the Hardys to the fourth floor.  There they entered the second room on their right.  “Hey, Baby Brother,” Frank said softly as he neared Joe.  

Joe gave Frank a lopsided grin.  “Geez, I’m out of commission for a couple of days and you go all hippie on me.”  

“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it,” Frank returned, grinning because his brother’s attempt at levity let him know Joe would be okay.   

“Hi, Son,” Fenton said as he neared.  Laura, at Fenton’s side, leaned down and kissed Joe’s forehead.   

“Hey,” Joe returned with a wry grin.  “I guess I won’t need a job or an advance,” he said.  “The doc said it would be a couple of weeks at least before I’m back to normal.”  

“I’m sorry, Joe,” Fenton apologized, looking contrite.   

“Why?” Joe demanded.  “It wasn’t your fault. I know I spend too much and I will watch my finances more closely in the future.“  

“But if you hadn’t been looking for a job then...” Fenton began.  

“Then I would have gotten kidnapped some other way,” Joe put in ruefully.  “It was a set up,” he said.  “It just worked out easier for them this way.”  At this point he realized he hadn’t asked a very important question.  “Did you get them?”  

“The CIA did,” Fenton acknowledged then launched into details.   

“Yeah, Agent Blaine even gave us a lecture about not letting them do their job,” Frank put in.  

Joe’s blue eyes gleamed mischievously.  “So, we come by our disregard of authority legitimately.”  

Fenton let out a guffaw and ruffled his son’s hair.  “You’re right,” he confessed.  “I plead guilty.”  

“What?” Laura asked, looking at the three in confusion.  

“Dad is always telling us that if we had waited then we would have been privy to more information or things of that nature,” Joe informed her.  

“You’re right!”  Frank said, laughing.  “I never realized.”  He grinned at his dad.  “Does this mean we aren’t going to get that lecture again?”  

“Well, not for two mysteries at any rate,” Fenton said.  

“Sold!” Joe shouted.  

End

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.