Frank started to stand only to realize he, himself, was in the same predicament. He pulled at his ropes but to no avail. Looking over at his companion it struck him: something had gone horribly wrong. Why else would the Gray Man be trussed up tight?

As Frank moved his wrists up and down to try and loosen his bonds, the door to the room opened and a hand reached in and flipped a switch, flooding the place with light.

Frank squeezed his eyes shut against the unexpected brightness then blinked a few times as he fought to re-open them. When he did, the man from the festival that had been trying to start a fight with Joe stood before him.

"Well, now," Wolfe said, smiling thinly first at the Gray Man then at Frank. He stepped closer to Frank and leaned down to stare him in the eyes. "You’re brother isn’t too happy with you," he told Frank, watching as the boy’s eyes widened in fear. He leaned over and ripped the tape from Frank’s mouth. "He’s not happy at all."

"What do you know?" Frank sneered. "He may not be happy about your having me but he will take you down."

Wolfe began laughing, A slow chuckle at first which erupted into a full blown guffaw. Another man who stood in the doorway was also cracking up. Frank’s face turned red with anger but when Wolfe reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a silver neck chain sporting a medallion, it turned ashen.

"Joe," Frank emitted the word as a breath. How had they gotten their hands on Joe? "Where is he?" Frank demanded, his voice sure and strong, completely opposite of the way he was feeling.

"Elsewhere," Wolfe answered. "But silent. He’s very stubborn, you know. He wouldn’t tell us anything even though Reggie there," he indicated the large man by the door whose muscles rivaled those of the current Mr. Universe, "tried to persuade him otherwise."

"If you hurt him..." Frank began only to stop when Wolfe gave another hearty laugh.

"If we hurt him?" Wolfe asked, his brown eyes twinkling merrily. "Didn’t I just say we had? But," he stressed the word. "But, he is still alive. It occurred to me that although he won’t talk to save himself, you might."

"Why hurt him?" Frank demanded. "Why didn’t you come after me?"

"Two reasons," Wolfe replied. "First, he was conscious, you weren’t. And second," he glanced over at the Gray Man scornfully. "Did you really think we wouldn’t know which Hardy had been physically preventing our agents from following suicide protocol?"

Wolfe stood straight and put the gag back in Frank’s mouth, "Think it over," he told Frank. "We’re going to kill him regardless, but how much pain do you want him to go through before he dies?"

Wolfe turned and ushered Reggie from the room, flipping the switch and leaving Frank and the Gray Man in the dark as he closed and locked the door. Once on the other side, Reggie turned to Wolfe and lifted a bushy black eyebrow questioningly. "What if the kid doesn’t buy it? What if he wants more proof we have his brother?"

"We’ll give it to him," Wolfe answered.

"How? You said the kid fell out of the chopper. He’s dead," Reggie stated.

"We’ll find his body," Wolfe replied. "Some hair; a piece of the clothing he was wearing the last time Frank saw him; that should satisfy him. Surely, there will be something left of him."

"Not if we don’t start a search at once," Reggie denied. "This area is pretty wild. A wolf, mountain lion, maybe even a bear could take care of what’s left of him before we find him."

"Then get the men and go," Wolfe ordered. "We have to have something for our leader to atone for the loss of Joe Hardy and we need Frank’s cooperation."

***

The Gray Man finally managed to work one of his hands free. A few minutes later, he pulled the gag from his mouth then released his ankles. He hobbled over to Frank as the new burst of circulation sent the uncomfortable sensation of pins and needles up his calves and into his thighs.

He first removed Frank’s gag then set to work on the ropes binding his wrists. Frank kept quiet as he was being released, unsure whether to be more terrified for his brother or angry at the Gray Man for arranging the "camp" so close to Bayport. When his hands were free, he bent down and untied his feet as Gray went over and flipped the light switch on.

The Gray Man tried the knob and although there was no locking mechanism present on this side, the door held fast. "Must be dead bolted on the other side," he informed Frank. The only other exit was a duct about four feet above Frank’s head and it was too small for anything larger than a squirrel to crawl through.

The two began a search of the room, looking for microphones and hidden cameras. This took only a few minutes because the only furniture present besides the chairs they had been tied to was a portable potty.

"They expected us to get loose," Frank said, frowning in frustration.

"Right," agreed Gray calmly. Then, without warning, he curled his hand into a fist and connected with Frank’s jaw!

Frank stumbled back but didn’t lose his balance. He set himself up in a defensive stance that would have made his martial arts mentor proud. "What’s with you?" he demanded, glaring at the Gray Man.

Gray never answered, instead he focused all his energy into attacking Frank. For every thrust the Gray Man threw, Frank parried but had no time to launch a blow of his own. Frank decided to let the man tire himself out, then he would take him down.

This plan worked for a few minutes and Frank could see his opponent growing weaker but he was surprised with a double blow followed immediately with a roundhouse kick. Frank’s defense fell as the Gray Man’s foot connected with his chest. Frank put a hand over the area attacked and fell back, gasping for breath.

Gray pushed his advantage and delivered a blow to Frank’s left jaw. Frank slammed into the wall and sank to the floor. He looked up in time to see a foot headed for his throat.

Frank fell to the side and the foot connected to the wall with a sickening thud. "Oowww," groaned Gray, hopping back on one foot.

"What’s wrong with you?" Frank demanded angrily.

"I’m sorry, Frank," Gray responded. "But I know how close you and Joe are. You would do anything for him. Even betray your country. I can’t allow that," he added, putting his sore foot down and stepping back to wait for Frank to stand up so they could resume the fight.

"I’m not going to tell them anything," Frank promised. "I don’t even believe they have Joe. That creep probably stole Joe’s necklace from him at the festival," he added, rising slowly as he watched for sign of an attack.

"But if they do have him?" Gray pushed.

"The only way I would believe that would be if I saw him," Frank answered. "And they have already admitted they would kill him. Why would I betray anyone? Joe knows what pain is. He’s already suffered more than any one person should have too. He would never forgive me if I told the Assassins anything."

"Do you think he’ll forgive you for lying to him about the camp?" Gray asked, beginning to believe Frank. He lowered his arms, his face showing concern.

"I don’t know," admitted Frank, looking around. "But if we can’t get out of here; it’s moot anyway."

***

The radio crackled and Nicolas Ward, second in charge of operations under Wolfe, answered. When he heard what came through, he went in search of Wolfe.

"What is it?" Wolfe demanded, seeing Ward’s set face.

"We can’t get anything from Joe Hardy," Ward answered.

"Something already got to his corpse then," Wolfe guessed, frowning. How would he obtain Frank’s cooperation now?