''I've got plans,'' Joe told him.

''What kind of plans?'' Jim asked.

Joe looked at Jim and gave the response he thought Jonny might have given. ''Personal.''

''Fine,'' Jim said holding up a hand. ''Don't bite my head off already. I'll see you later,'' he added, walking off.

Joe walked out of the office. ''Where's Fred?'' he asked David.

''Mike took him out a while. To show the route to him so he could get used to it today,'' David answered. ''They should've been back by now though.'' The phone rang and he picked up the receiver and started talking, waving Joe away.

Joe went back to wait a while longer. He looked over the area trying to find the bag of powder he had seen the other day but came up without finding anything. After he had finished his search, Mike and Frank pulled into the garage.

''Yo, Jonny!'' shouted Mike, climbing out of the truck to say hi to Joe. ''You should have told someone this guy was your cousin.''

Joe looked at him with indifference.

''You never give an inch, do you?'' Mike asked Jonny, then slapped Frank on the back and left.

''What was that all about?'' Joe asked Frank on the way back to the car.

Frank filled him in on the way to Daniel's World Trade. ''I finally managed to convince him I was your cousin and wasn't really following you. I told him you asked me to bring my car and wait on you because you were planning on coming out without Kelly.''

Frank pulled his car into the only available space left. ''How do you want to do this?'' he asked Joe. ''As us or as our egos again?''

''Why don't I go in as Jonny and you go in as yourself, Frank?'' Joe asked. ''Maybe one of us will find something out.''

''After you,'' Frank said. ''I'll follow in ten minutes,'' he added, checking his watch.

Joe went inside and stopped by the elevator. He checked to see the office number of Sommer Daniels then went into the elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor again. When the elevator stopped, Joe stepped out and walked up to the secretary.

''I'd like to speak with Mr. Daniels,'' he told the woman.

She looked at Joe with indifference. ''Do you have an appointment?'' Before Joe could answer she continued, ''If not then he won't be able to see you. His schedule is very tight this morning.''

''I'm sure,'' Joe stated. ''Especially with the big race at the Bayport Race Track this weekend. However, I would appriciate it if you would tell Mr. Daniels that Mr. Jonathan Harrison the third would like to speak with him.''

''Harrison's Import/Export?'' the secretary asked, in disbelief.

''That would actually be my dad,'' Joe told her.

''Just a moment,'' she said. ''Would you please have a seat?''

A moment later, a tall, lean man that Joe would guess was in his late forties came out of the back office.

''Jonny,'' greeted the man, clasping Joe's hand and pulling Joe to his feet again. ''You should have let me know that you were coming."

''Last minute decision," Joe said, improvising.

''Well, come on into my office,'' Sommer Daniels said, practically dragging Joe with him into the office. Once inside, he released Joe but ushered him to a chair to sit down. Then Daniels sat on the corner of the desk looking down at Joe.

''Does this visit mean you've decided to accept my proposition?'' Joe was asked.

''Sorry,'' Joe replied with a little shake of his head. ''So much has been going on that I completely forgot about what your proposition was."

Daniels' brown eyes bore into Joe's blue ones. ''Jonny, this is no game,'' Daniels said. ''I want you to work here. Think about it, Jonny.'' he added. ''Your own office, a nice fat salary, and all you have to do is sign a small little amout of papers.''

Joe realized this job was more then just a position in Daniels' company but Joe wasn't really sure about it. Not speaking, Joe leaned back in his chair, looking introspective.

Daniels leaned forward. ''Just think how your old man would feel if you were working here.''

"It might cause him to have a relapse,'' Daniels added. Joe gasped. Now he knew there was a connection because Harrison hadn't really had an attack. Joe had only fabricated that story to explain Jonny's unexpected disappearance.

''Okay,'' Joe heard himself agreeing. ''When would you like me to start, Mr. Daniels?''

''I'll show you to your office now and you can start tomorrow,'' Daniels told Joe.

''What about my secratary,'' Joe asked.

''We have a typing pool, but you really won't need one, however you may hire a secratary if you'd like,'' Daniels informed him. ''As head of our relations department, I suppose you will need a social secratary at any rate,'' he added as an afterthought.

While Joe was discussing his new job with Daniels, Frank had entered the building too. He had decided to try a different approach then the direct one he and Joe had discussed earlier. During his ten minute time elapse, Frank had donned a suit and tie whichhe had picked up at the drycleaners but had kept forgetting to take in the house. The briefcase held fingerprinting supplies which he and Joe always kept in the trunk in case the needed it.

''Hello,'' Frank greeted the receptionist in the lobby. My name is Frank Genhard. I would like to discuss the possibility of world distribution of a product I represent."

"You need to go to the fourth floor," she informed him.

"Thank you," Frank told her with a smile. "you've been most helpful."

On the fourth floor, Frank spoke with Daniels secretary. "What is your product she asked?"

"Some would call it candy," Frank answered with a wink.

"Just a moment please," she told Frank. "Please take a seat." Five minutes later, she told him to go to the fourth door on the right.

"Enter," came a familiar voice when Frank knocked. Frank walked in and asped in surprise when he saw Joe sitting behind a desk wearing a big grin. "Come on in," Joe told him. "Have a seat."

Frank closed the door and took a chair. Before Frank could say anything, Joe started the conversation. "I've been informed you have a product you would like to present," Joe said. Immediately following his statement he mouthed the words, "The room is bugged."

Frank nodded in understanding. "Yes," he stated. "It's a new kind of lollipop. You've heard of Topotsie Pops and Charms Blow Pops? Well, this is a Sour Pop. It's got a sweet fruit flavor on the outside but on the inside there is a concentrated lemon drop that oozes out once the center has been penetrated," Frank improvised.

"I see," Joe said, trying to control his laughter at Frank's feeble sales pitch. "I'm sorry but I'm afraid Daniels' World Trade doesn't handle lollipops. Perhaps you should try another company."

"But it's a special lollipop," Frank insisted, trying to convince the unseen listeners he was on the up and up. He didn't want to blow Joe's cover.

"I'm sorry Sir," Joe insisted a bit forcefully. "Why don't you try Harrison Exports?"

"Thank you for your time," Frank said, standing up. "But if you change your mind.." he started.

"We won't," Joe assured him, showing him out the door.

After Frank left, Daniels' came into Joe's office and spoke with him about his first visitor. The secretary had told him a young man had been trying to sale a product. Joe assured him that the product was useless and he had sent the man elsewhere.

A few minutes later, Joe climbed into the car with Frank. "How about we stop and pick up some lunch?" Joe asked. "We could have a sour pop for dessert," he added with a straight face.

"Very funny," Frank said drily. "What happened in there?"

"Daniels offered Jonny a job some time back but he was thinking it over. Today, I took him up on the offer," Joe informed his brother.

"Why?" Frank demanded. "We still have no reason to believe Daniels is involved with Martin."

"Yes, we do," Joe said, grinning. He told Frank about the "attack" Harrison had come to have and how Daniels knew about it.

"Why would Daniels and Martin be working together?" Frank wondered out loud. "They're rivals in business."

"Maybe when we find that out we'll find out Jonny's place in all of this. In the meantime, I get to quit with the trash and start at Daniels' tomorrow," Joe ended as Frank pulled into Burger King.

Joe ordered lunch while Frank changed and they ate in the car on the way back to work. Once there, Joe went into the office and told David after this afternoon he would be quitting.

Joe told Jim he was quitting and going to work for Daniels World Trade. "Good luck kid," Jim told him and gave him a friendly punch on the arm. "I'm glad to see you're getting away from Martin." Joe didn't tell him he was planning on asking Kelly to be his secretary. He had discussed it with Frank on the way back to work and although it would hae been better to have had Frank or one of their friends to be Joe's secretary, it would have looked suspicious.

After work, Joe hopped a bus over to Zoe's Place. "Hi ya Jonny," Zoe greeted Joe. "Kelly's waiting."

"Thanks," he said, going over and sitting down beside Kelly. "I've got some news for you," Joe told her after they had shared a kiss.

"Let me guess," she said, leaning into him and putting his arm around her shoulders. "You're quitting the sanitation department and going to work for one of daddy's rivals."

"How did you know?" Joe asked, pulling away from her.

"Word gets around," she told him, pulling him close again. "It's okay. Sommer and Dad are old friends," she informed him.

"Then you won't mind being my secretary?" Joe asked.

"I thought you'd never ask," she repled. "You've got to come over for dinner tonight," she told him. "Dad's invited Sommer and Steve over to discuss business. Our business," she added.

"Wouldn't miss it," Joe assured her.

"I've got to run," she told him. Joe got up and let her out. "See you tonight," she added, kissing him and leaving.

Joe sat back down. Zoe came over. "Have you heard anything about Jonny?" she asked with a worried frown.

Joe shook his head. "I don't know what to make of Jonny," he said. "My gut instinct tells me he's a nice guy but the people he's mixed up with all say otherwise."

"Instincts are usually right," Zoe told him. "Are you sure you know what you're getting into?" she asked. "These people can be dangerous."

Joe looked in her eyes. "What do you know about these people?" he asked her.

She smiled. "Your brother only asked about Jonny," she stated.

"Do you know Nathan Miller?" She shook her head. "Steve Temple?" Another shake. "Sven Sorrenson?"

"I'm afraid not," she said

"How about Sommer Daniels?"

"He's Craig's dad, right?" she asked. Joe nodded. "I haven't actually met him but I did see him and Craig over at Kelly's house," she told him. "I had to drive by to pick up my sister who was visiting a friend in the neighborhood, and I saw Craig, his dad, the Martins and this other guy all out on the front porch."

"What did the other guy look like?" Joe asked.

"He had straight black hair, kind of a stocky build and almost as tall as you," she described the man.

"Was Jonny there?" Joe asked. She shook her head. "When did you see them there?"

"About three days before Jonny disappeared," she answered.

"Thanks for the info," Joe said, a speculative gleam in his eye. "I'll see you," he added, getting up.

"Be careful," she urged.

"I will," he promised.

Joe headed back to the boarding house. He was thinking about what Zoe had told him and wasn't concentrating on his surroundings. A dark sedan pulled up beside him. Joe stopped and backed away from the curb. He was halted by what felt like a brick wall, only it was breathing.