"Mr. Hardy, thank God you’re here! They won’t listen to Frank..." Callie began, but was cut off by the sound of Frank’s voice booming through the night.

"What in the world is going on?" Laura shrieked.

"I don’t know," Fenton said already heading towards his son. "But I’m certainly going to find out."

Frank’s voice continued to rise, and he was gesturing wildly in the air. "You can’t be serious! We have to look for them tonight…they could be seriously hurt! Are you forgetting those nut jobs took a couple of shots at them?"

"Mr. Hardy, please calm down," Fenton heard the park ranger reply to Frank as he approached his son. "I understand your concern, really I do, but I have to look out for my men. It’s too dangerous right now. Visibility in these woods is poor at night under the best of circumstances."

A thick blanket of fog had settled in around the mountains, and the temperature was dropping rapidly that fall night.

"Excuse me," Fenton said as he forcefully pulled his out of control son to the side. "I’m Fenton Hardy; Joseph is my youngest son. I see you have already met my oldest son, Frank. Ms. Bender’s mother is also here, she came with my wife and I."

"I’m Ranger Chad Clark," the young man said extending his hand towards Fenton, who gave it a shake. "Mr. Hardy, as I was telling your son, we are well aware of the situation, and the danger your son and Ms. Bender are in. We actually just received a phone call from a Sgt. Con Riley of the Bayport police department a few minutes ago, and I was just about to update your son.

"Uh…I’ll take care of that, Ranger Clark," Fenton said wanting to be the one to break the news to Frank. "But first, I would like to know what the plan is to find my son and Ms. Bender."

Frank was doing his best to hold his tongue, hoping his father would prove to be more persuasive than he had been.

"I’m afraid that our hands are tied at the moment, Mr. Hardy. With the current weather conditions, a ground search is out of the question. I can’t in good conscience send my men out into those woods right now," Ranger Clark replied.

"What about an air to ground search?" Fenton questioned.

"That is a possibility, but at the moment our search and rescue team is tied up working a major accident with confirmed injuries. A car went into the ravine near Grover’s Pass in the fog. They’re searching for survivors. I’m afraid that takes priority at the moment," Ranger Clark said.

"I understand," Fenton replied. "Now if you will excuse us for a minute, I need to talk to my son alone."

"First off all Frank, I’m glad you’re okay," Fenton said hugging his son tightly.

"Dad…" Frank began.

"No, Frank, listen first. Con filled me in on most of the details earlier; and we will get to the reason Con was the one to tell me later. But right now, I have to tell you something. It seems that Joe did witness a murder. The police found the body of an unidentified young man a few hours ago, and Ezra believes the two are connected."

Frank began to pace back in forth in front of his father, looking down at the ground.

"I’m not going to ask what you two are doing here with your friends; I know Joe too well to have to ask. But, we do need to try and figure out what’s going on here. Do you have any idea how they knew where to find Joe?" Fenton asked his son.

Frank finally stopped pacing and mumbled something inaudible.

"What?" Fenton questioned.

"We were careless, Dad. They took Joe’s ID last night…I’m sure they followed us. I knew better. I never should have let Joe talk me into coming out here. I could have told Vanessa…"

"Don’t Frank," Fenton said, putting his hand on Frank’s shoulder. "We don’t have time for that right now. What I don’t understand is why Con didn’t tell me about Joe’s ID being taken."

"He didn’t know," Frank replied guiltily. "Joe didn’t discover it had been taken until after Con and the police had left. We were going to tell him first thing this morning…but I guess we forgot. We screwed up, Dad."

"It was an oversight, Frank. As soon as we find your brother and Vanessa, we are going to find these guys."

‘It was more than an oversight…it was a costly mistake; one that could very well cost Joe and Vanessa their lives! Joe should have never left the house. My boys are smarter than that’, Fenton thought sadly. Although Fenton had a few choice words for his boys about the decisions they had made, he knew now was not the time.

"Let’s go see if we can light a fire under these guys," Fenton said turning away from Frank, and heading back towards the rangers.

"Dad?" Frank said softly as he walked beside his father.

"Yes?" Fenton replied.

"I’m glad you’re here," Frank said, meaning every word. His first instinct had been right; he and Joe should have talked to their father last night. Frank was sure that with his father to back him up they would have been able to talk Joe into staying at home, where he would have been safe.

*****

Laura and Andrea were busy trying to console the other teens. Laura had pulled Callie aside. She was still fuming over the way the authorities had treated Frank, but Laura could tell that she was worried about Joe and Vanessa.

Chet was standing by Cassidy’s side trying to keep her warm as Andrea softly spoke to the distraught teen.

"Don’t worry, Honey," Andrea said forcing Cassidy to look at her. "Vanessa is going to be fine, I know it. Joe would never let anything happen to her."

"You and Vanessa are the only family I have left. We are a family…if not for the two of you, I don’t know what I would do. I haven’t been this happy since before Dad died…" Cassidy said as a tear slipped down her cheek.

Chet could not imagine how tough the last few years had been on Cassidy. He knew well what it was like to lose someone he loved, but there was a difference. Cassidy had not had the benefit of a large family that was there to comfort each other. His family had actually grown closer after the loss of Iola.

"Cassidy, I’ve known Joe Hardy since we were little kids," Chet said with a smile. "If there’s one thing I know, it’s that he will take care of Vanessa. And, Vanessa’s one pretty tough girl…she can hold her own."

As Laura and a much calmer Callie rejoined the group, they noticed Frank and Fenton coming their way.

"Well?" Laura questioned.

Before Fenton could utter a single word, Frank started ranting. "They refuse to help! They expect us to leave Joe and Vanessa alone in those woods overnight…"

"They are not refusing to help Frank," Fenton said sternly. "Ranger Clark cannot send his men out in these conditions right now. But, they are considering an air search when the search and rescue team is free; they’re dealing with a serious accident right now."

"Okay," Frank began. "So they’re not refusing in so many words, but the result is the same. Joe and Vanessa are out there in those woods alone and possibly hurt!"

Laura and Andrea clung to each other wearing matching looks of horror; each with unshed tears threatening to fall.

Frank couldn’t take it anymore…the look on his mother’s face broke his heart. He had not seen that look in his mother’s eyes since Joe was a child. ‘You can’t afford to think about that now’, Frank reminded himself.

"I WILL not stand by and do nothing while my little brother and Vanessa are lost in those woods! I don’t care what ANYONE says", Frank shouted, leaving no room for arguments. As he turned and walked away, no longer able to look his at his mother, he whispered "I’m sorry Mom."

Laura immediately went after Frank, until Fenton caught her by the arm. "Let him go, Laura, he needs to calm down and think things through, he’s just emotional right now…we all are."