“I can’t remember any of that,” Mr. Shaw said, shaking his head sadly. “I wish I could.”

“It will come back to you,” Joe promised him. “I’ve had amnesia before. Just when I thought I would never remember anything it all just came back to me.”

“How did you get it?” Mr. Shaw inquired.

“I was on a trip for my dad to deliver a message and got waylaid by a hit man,” Joe explained. “He hit me with a tire iron then locked me in the trunk of a car and sent it off the mountain. I’m not sure how I got out of the car but it was a day or two later before my memory came back.”

“A..a hitman?” Mr. Shaw asked in wonder. “Whatever where you doing involved in that kind of situation?”

“My dad’s a private investigator,” Joe told him. “My brother and I are following in his footsteps.”

“And your brother is dating my daughter?” Mr. Shaw demanded, remembering what Joe had told him earlier. “I’m not sure I like that.”

“Don’t worry,” Joe said. “Frank would never do anything to endanger her.”

“Is that how we got involved with these men?” Mr. Shaw asked. “Your dad was investigating something? Or you and your brother?”

Joe shook his head. “No, none of us were working on anything,” he said. “I’m not sure, but I think these men want something you had of theirs.”

“Me?” Mr. Shaw demanded. “Yes. I suppose you are right. Before they believed I didn’t know what they were talking about they insisted I tell them what I did with their property.”

“Do you know what it was?” Joe asked hopefully.

Mr. Shaw shook his head. “But I don’t understand why they kidnapped you if it was I who took something that belonged to them.”

“Because your wife gave him your belongings after they made out,” Kent said, making his presence known. He had been listening long enough to hear about Joe’s father. “So your dad’s a detective?” he asked, coming over and kneeling down in front of Joe. “Maybe you don’t know what you found. If you did find it,” he added. “We thought we had removed all of his belongings. We were surprised when his wife offered you his clothes.”

“You were making out with my wife?” Mr. Shaw demanded.

“No!” Joe denied but was hit hard across the face.

“Oh yes,” Kent said. “Your dear sweet Serena kissed young Joesph in the garage and then they took it inside.”

“That’s not...” Joe began but was hit again.

“Since you really don’t know what we are after then you won’t know where it is,” Kent told Joe. “It doesn’t matter if you can’t talk or even if you die.”

Mr. Shaw glared at Joe. His eyes filled with a hatred so intense Joe was grateful looks could not kill. “Both of you are hopeless,” Kent continued. “But perhaps your old man can help us out. After all, I am sure he would do anything to get his little boy back, wouldn’t he?” He reached out and ruffled Joe’s hair as he stood back up.

“As for you,” Kent said, turning to Mr. Shaw. “You have been useless for too long. I don’t know why we bothered to keep you but now, well, there’s no need, is there?” He brought back his fist and smashed it into Mr. Shaw’s face. “Only a few more hours and then I’m sure we can get rid of both of you,” he added, glancing over at Joe as he hit Mr. Shaw hard one more time causing his head to snap back against the concrete wall.

***

Frank remained at the Shaws while his father returned home. Fenton explained the situation to Laura and she offered to stay with the Shaws for a little while. She drove over and sent Frank back home to help with the investigation.

As Frank opened the front door the phone began to ring. Frank hit the tracer and his father lifted the receiver. “Hello?”

“Hello Mr. Hardy,” came the same voice that had called them earlier.

“Where’s my son?” Fenton demanded.

“He’s safe,” the voice stated. “For now. Whether he remains so is entirely up to you.”

“What do you want?” Fenton demanded.

“The coin,” the voice informed him. “Find it. You will be contacted with instructions later.”

“What coin?” demanded Fenton but the line had already gone dead.

“Not enough time,” Frank said as he stopped the tracer. “What’s this about a coin?” he asked.

Fenton repeated the conversation for his son. “I have no idea what he’s talking about,” he ended.

“I might,” Frank said. “What if Mr. Shaw found this coin and put it in his pocket? When they kidnapped him and cleared his things out of the house, they expected to find it but couldn’t.”

“That would explain why the house was bugged,” Fenton said thoughtfully.

“Then yesterday they heard Mrs. Shaw giving Joe what was left of Mr. Shaw’s clothes. The coin would have to be there unless Mr. Shaw had already spent it,” Frank reasoned.

“But if he spent it...” Fenton began.

Frank shook his head. “Maybe he didn’t,” he said. “Joe changed when we got home last night but he put his things into his clean clothes. If the coin had still been in Mr. Shaw’s pocket then Joe probably put it in his pocket too.”

“If that were the case then they would have the coin,” Fenton reminded him. “They have Joe.”

“But Joe spilled some change in the van before we even reached Barney’s Burgers,” Frank said. “It could still be under the seat.”

“You go and look while I call Chief Collig and update him,” Fenton instructed Frank.

Frank nodded his agreement and took off at a run. He went to the passenger door, opened it, and started looking around in the floor. He found two pennies and a dime but neither of them looked to be anything spectacular. He pushed the seat as far back as he could and bent down to look underneath it. Three more coins. Another penny and two quarters. Frank gave a little growl and shut the van door.

He looked at the coins again. Wait a minute. One of the quarters looked unusual. It was a New York quarter. He flipped it over. “The World Trade Center?” He was still staring at it when his dad came outside. How was that possible? New York had the Statue of Liberty on the reverse.

“Did you find it?” Fenton asked.

“I think so,” he said and held out the unusual coin.

Fenton looked at it with interest. “You stay here in case the kidnappers call back,” Fenton said. “I’ll take this into town and see what I can find out about it.”

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.