Moran and another man Joe hadn’t seen before arrived in his ‘prison’ and released him.  “Bathroom break, kid,” the new guy said, each word coming out with a little wheeze through his large nose.

Joe lay quietly until he was unbound then sat up slowly, his arms filled with the prickling sensation that comes when one’s circulation is returning to normal.

“Don’t you have to go?” Wheezy asked, his hazel eyes looking at Joe curiously.

“My circulation is trying to start back up,” snapped Joe glaring at him.  “It’s not my fault you people believe in overkill.”

Several minutes later Joe was brought back from the bathroom and made to lie back down.  “Couldn’t I be tied to a chair instead?” he begged.  “I’m getting bedsores.”

“Forget it, Kid,” Moran replied.  “But we will leave the tape off,” he compromised.

“Better than nothing,” Joe grumbled as the men began tying him back up.

“All secure,” Moran informed Morrison, going back into the living room after stopping to use the bathroom himself.

“Good, good,” Morrison answered.  “It was a brilliant idea of yours to bug Radley’s phone,” he congratulated Moran.  “Hardy did contact him and, as it turns out, the kid really is Hardy’s son.”

“He is?” demanded Moran, his eyes widening in amazement.

“Indeed,” acknowledged Morrison.  “Hardy obviously  knows his lines are bugged and that’s why the call he placed to Radley wasn’t made on either of them and that means he wanted us to believe the boy is Leland’s son.”

“So we wouldn’t kill him, I suppose?” Moran asked.

“And we won’t,” Morrison said.  “Not just yet at any rate.  He may come in handy.”

“Where are the others?”

“They’ve gone to intercept Radley and Leland,” Morrison answered.  “Radley will be eliminated and Leland will be joining us here.”

***

Joe began struggling with the ropes as soon as he was left alone.  Thankfully, when he was being tied up this time he remembered a trick his father had taught him about taking  a deep breath to expand his muscles and then releasing it when he was ready for the ropes to go slack. 

Letting his breath out and relaxing, the ropes gave a little.  Joe twisted his wrists and curled his fingers and  slipped free of the ropes binding his wrists together in front of him.  Next he pulled at the ropes tying him to the bed and slipped his hands out from beneath them.  Then he sat up by pushing the ropes over his shoulders and head.

The maneuver tightened the ropes around his legs but only briefly.  Within minutes he was free and standing.  He hurried to the drapes and pulled them apart.  “Great,” he moaned softly when he saw they had been for decorative purposes only and there was nothing but a wall behind them. 

Closing the drapes, Joe went to the door, his footsteps muffled by the lush carpet and the fact that his shoes had been removed and were nowhere to be seen.  He peered around the doorway.  Seeing no one, he made his way down the hall and paused at the top of the steps as he heard Morrison speaking.

Sam! thought Joe, his blue eyes wide with fear.  He had to get away and warn him.  He crept silently down the stairs, stopping and catching his breath as Wheezy came out of a room and headed out the front door.  Where’s he going?  wondered Joe as he started breathing again.

Joe hurried the rest of the way down, pausing briefly to make sure he could slip by the open doorway unnoticed before easing the front door open and slipping outside after  checking to make sure Wheezy wasn’t hanging around.

Joe saw no sign of the missing thug or any other human for that matter.  Maybe I didn’t think this through, he thought as he looked around and saw the vast array that Mother Nature had arranged for the landscape.  In front of him was a rocky road; one that would surely tear up the tender flesh on the soles of his feet, and beyond that trees and green hills.

Joe looked to his left and saw the landscape fade into a watery one with no boat in sight.  To his right was more water.  His lips set in a thin line and his blue eyes revealing his determination to find some means of escape, Joe descended the steps and took off through the grass to look around the house.

He came to a sudden stop just before rounding the corner of the house as Wheezy’s distinct voice carried through the air.  Peering around the corner he saw three jeeps, one black, one blue, and one red and also the black Toyota from Friday night.  He could easily have hotwired one if not for the three thugs, all with guns tucked neatly in holsters beneath their arms or at the side of their belts.

Resigning himself to being a captive, Joe returned to the front door and snuck back inside.  He had to get a message to Frank and his dad but he wasn’t sure how.  He couldn’t call home because his captors were monitoring all calls to and from his house but perhaps he could have someone give them a message?

Joe went in search of a phone.  Finding one near a closet just off the kitchen, he dialed a number and crossed his fingers.  Since Sam’s phone had been bugged it was possible his other friends’ phones had as well.  But since the phones had been bugged when they thought he was Tom’s son then maybe they hadn’t thought to bug the phone of Frank’s girlfriend.

“Hello,” greeted a feminine voice on the other end.

“Mrs. Shaw, this is Joe Hardy,” Joe said keeping his voice low.  “I need a huge favor.”

“Are you all right?’ Mrs. Shaw demanded.  Callie had told her this morning that Joe had been kidnapped the night before.

“Yes, ma’am,” responded Joe softly.  “But I’m pretty much trapped.  Could you get a message to Frank or my dad without going in my house or calling them?”

“Of course,” she answered, eager to help in any way she could.

“Tell Dad that Sam is in danger.  They know what Dad has planned.  Also give them this number,” he added and read it off of the phone.  “I don’t know where I am but they should be able to trace the number and find out,”  he ended.

“I’ll take care of it at once,” Mrs. Shaw promised.

“Thank you,” Joe said, genuine gratitude and relief coming through loud and clear in his voice. Joe was on his way back upstairs when he heard a car coming up the drive.  Morrison and Moran came out of the living room before Joe had time to hide.

“Hold it right there,” Moran ordered whipping out his gun and aiming it at Joe.

“Honestly, Joseph,” Morrison said in a bored tone.  “There isn’t anywhere for you to go.”

“Really?” sneered Joe letting the men think he had been on his way down for the first time.

“Bring him,” Morrison ordered Moran then went outside.

Moran waved his gun at Joe and Joe returned down the stairs and preceded him outside.  The three of them waited for the car to come to a stop.  Grayhaven exited followed by Leland and Picard.

The driver looked out of the window at Morrison.  “I can’t go back to the FBI headquarters,” he said.  “My cover is shot.”

“We know,” Moran said.  “Park the car and come on inside.”

“No,” Morrison countermanded the order.  “I think we should go ahead and eliminate our problems.  Put them in the car,” he instructed.  “We’ll terminate them at the usual disposal site.”

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.