“Can I have a drink?” Joe asked as soon as his father had left.  He was lying down on the couch again, this time facing the other direction with his foot propped up.  His brother and mother were sitting beside him and even though he had once again closed his eyes, he knew they were watching him.

“Sure kiddo,” he heard his brother say, and then felt the movement as Frank got off the couch.

“He shot the couch,” Chet said shaking his head.  “I can’t believe it, that crazy guy shot the couch!”

Joe opened his eyes and glanced at his friend.

Chet saw him looking at him and grinned sheepishly.  “Don’t get me wrong!  I mean, I’m glad it was the couch…but still, he shot the couch!”

Frank came back with a cold glass of water and passed it to his brother when Joe lifted himself up on his elbows and took the glass.  He spoke to Chet.  “Your parents are giving their statements to Officer Bartlett.”

Wordlessly, the stout boy left the living room to be with his parents. He knew his mom, in particular was going to be upset when she had to recount the terrible fright she’d gotten when that monster had invaded her house!

“Whoa honey, not so fast!”  Frank turned back to look at his brother as he heard his mother cautioning him, as Joe, just now realizing how thirsty he was, started to gulp it back.

And then as the cold water hit his painfully empty stomach, Joe doubled over in a severe stomach cramp.  He groaned and sucked in a breath, trying to will the pain away.

“That’s it,” their mother said, taking charge, “We’re taking you to the hospital to get checked out!”

“Mom—” Joe protested weakly, but she cut him off.

“I don’t want to hear it young man!”  Laura looked at her older son, daring him to take his brother’s side, but Frank just shrugged.  He recognized that look in his mother’s eyes and knew better than to stand between mamma bear and her cub….regardless of the look the cub was throwing him.

“I agree.” Frank said, “I’ll borrow Chet’s if Dad took his car.”

Satisfied, Laura turned back to her younger son, who was trying to breathe through another painful stomach cramp.  This time when she spoke, her voice was soft and tender.  “And then afterwards, we’ll take you home.”

Joe managed a weak smile.  “Thank you, Mom.”  And then took the hand his brother was offering, to get off the couch.

In all honesty, he felt more miserable than he liked to admit.

* * *

Fenton hung up the cell phone and turned to Ezra, who was driving.

“That was Frank.  They’re taking Joe to the hospital.”

The chief shot him a quick look.  “Is he okay?”

“I think so.”  Fenton said, willing this to hurry and be over with so he could get back to his family.  “He didn’t give any specifics, just that his mother got tired of Joe’s groaning.”

Ezra smiled – he actually could imagine it.  Most people had no idea what a force of nature Laura Hardy could be with the right incentive. And if anything was incentive, it was named Frank and Joe.

“Radley’s going to meet us there,” Fenton said after a few quiet moments.

“Good,” Ezra said.  He didn’t think they really needed the extra manpower, as they were being followed by a patrol for backup, but he understood how important it was to Fenton to have Sam there.

Antoine Rosado had been their client; no…more then a client.  He had been their first client.  Now they needed to see this to its resolution.

That man had stolen two very precious things from Fenton: his son…and his trust.  And now they were going to let him know that some things are priceless…. 

* * *

Fenton was surprised when he saw Deathe House.  He hadn’t been by the old manor in a long time, and he was impressed to see that it had been restored to its previous splendor; one more testimony to the wealth that surrounded Antoine.  The whole house seemed to glow, as if every light had been turned on.

“Do you think he’s expecting us?” Ezra found himself whispering as he stood next to Fenton and looked up at the mammoth house.

Fenton shook his head.   He really had no idea.  Up until a short while ago, he thought he had a good handle on the eccentric old man… now he wasn’t so sure about anything.

Officer Con Riley pulled up behind them, followed by Sam Radley.

“Fenton!”  The detective turned when he heard his name being called, and could tell immediately by his friend’s flushed face that he had something to tell him.

“Sam?” he asked, “What’s up?”

“Well it turned out, Allison Dawn wasn’t too hard at all to find,” the other investigator said as he got within talking distance.  “She’s dead.”

“What?” Fenton asked.

“Who’s Allison Dawn?” Ezra demanded, wondering if Fenton was working another case besides his own son’s kidnapping.

“Allison was the girl Antoine hired us to find,” Sam abridged before addressing Fenton again.  “Apparently she disappeared two days before Rosado went back to Europe.  But her body was discovered floating in the harbor, one week after her disappearance.”

“Rosado?” Fenton speculated, and Sam shrugged.

“Don’t know, but if so, then he’s been bizarre for a long time, Fenton.”

The hair on the back of the investigator’s neck stood up, even before Sam continued.

“Her body had been literally ripped to shreds and…” Sam paused, not noticing how the police chief had suddenly stiffened, and then he finished, “and he took a trophy.”

“A trophy?” Fenton echoed, his heart thumping heavily in his chest, “What?”

It was Chief Collig who answered.  “Her eyes.  He took her eyes.”

* * *

Antoine knew they were there.  And he waited.

* * *

… your son has the most exquisitely colored eyes I’ve ever seen….

… I don’t recall her eyes being so…well for lack of a better word – blue….

“Oh God,” Fenton felt like his legs were going to give out as he stared, horrified at the other men.  “He wanted Joe’s eyes….”

“Easy, Fenton.”  Sam’s steadying hand gripped his shoulder tightly.  “Joe’s safe.  And we don’t even know that for sure yet.”  He turned to Ezra.  “How’d you know?”

“Because…” the police chief cleared his throat, “because I’ve got a Jane Doe in my morgue that could fit that description of your Allison Dawn.”

“Oh crap,” Officer Riley hissed, “he’s serial.”

Regaining his composure, Fenton squared his shoulders, took out his gun and then nodded at the others.  “Well boys, this cereal has passed its expiration date.  I think it’s time we took it off the shelf!”

If anyone thought what he said was corny, no one commented on it. Instead they let the detective lead the way – this was personal.

* * *

“OPEN UP, ANTOINE!  IT’S THE POLICE!”  Con Riley shouted as Fenton banged on the door.  They could hear the pounding resonating through the house as loud booms.

No one answered.

The detective tried the door and wasn’t overly surprised to find it unlocked.  Pushing it all the way open, he carefully stepped into the hallway, with Con and Sam right behind him – all three had their guns drawn.

“ANTOINE – SHOW YOURSELF!” Fenton shouted.  “WE NEED TO TALK!”

As he called out, they made their way down the hallway, checking the rooms as they did.  And like Joe, they found all the doors locked, except one.

Pushing open the door, Fenton stepped into a large library, illuminated by a roaring fire in the huge fireplace that occupied one full wall.

Seated in a velvet, high backed chair was Antoine Rosado, drinking tea from a china cup.

“Ah Fenton, Sam!” the old man greeted in delight, “I was wondering when you’d get around to dropping by.”  The large dog lying at his feet, looked at the men but did nothing.

“Antoine—” Fenton started, but Mr. Rosado cut him off.

“I trust you’ve found Joseph, then?”

Barely able to keep from lunging across the room and throttling this man who was behaving so nonchalantly, Fenton growled, “Yes, we did. And he’s fine.”

“I gathered as much,” Antoine admitted looking a bit sad.  “Or else you wouldn’t be here.” He paused and then asked, “Is Muir dead?”

“Yes,” Fenton answered as he slowly came into the library, keeping his gun trained on the old man.

“Such a shame,” Mr. Rosado sighed.  “Good help is hard to find. However, that is neither here nor there. I can only apologize for the behavior of my employee….He was not as constrained as I had been led to believe.”

“What are you talking about?” Ezra demanded, deciding right off that this guy was even creepier than he’d been expecting.  Here they were, to arrest him for kidnapping, and possibly much more, and he was acting all civil, like they’d just dropped in for tea!

“This whole unfortunate affair.  Muir acted inappropriately and without my consent.  I’m so sorry Fenton; if I had known earlier I would have come to you but I only just found out myself tonight. ” Antoine purred.

“What?”  Fenton was dumbstruck – was the old man saying what he thought he was saying?

“Well, this house is very big and I am, although I do hate to admit, advancing in years, so I don’t get around it as a younger man would. “ His dark eyes bored into Fenton’s as he shrugged, “I had no idea the child was here.”

“BULL!”  Fenton roared.

Unbothered by the outburst, Mr. Rosado took a sip of his tea before sighing, “However, I am a reasonable man…and since your family has been aggrieved by my employee, I feel that it’s only fair that I, as an honorable man, offer you compensation…for your pain and suffering.”

He leaned forward in his chair.  “How much is a child worth these days, Fenton?”

Fenton Hardy lunged across the room.  “You bastard!”

Sam caught him, pulled him back and hissed, “Fenton, don’t let him win!  This is what he wants.”

Antoine was now addressing Chief Collig.  “You can prove nothing except Muir worked for me.  However, he was still an individual and I can be held no more responsible for his personal actions than can the employer of Jeffrey Dahmer.”  He looked at Fenton, amused to see the unflappable detective looking so undone.  “So if you’ll excuse me, gentlemen, it would appear that I need to take out an ad for an new employee.”

He smirked.  “That’s the wonderful thing about money; you can always find someone to take care of things for you.”

Fenton was horrified – did Antoine actually think he was going to get away with this?

And then Sam spoke up.  “You’re forgetting one thing, Mr. Rosado.”

The old man raised his eyebrow, imploring him to continue.

“There’s a witness.”

Officer Riley stepped forward with the handcuffs.  “Antoine Rosado, you are being arrested for the kidnapping and illegal confinement of Joseph Hardy.  You have the right to remain silent…”

Surprisingly enough, the old man not only didn’t say anything else, but he stood up and put out his wrists.

As he was being led from the room, he looked at Fenton and Sam.  “This is not over yet boys…not by a long shot….”

“Oh yes it is,” Fenton said.  “It’s over…for you.”